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September 9th, 2012
The New Faces Of Daytime: Couric, Probst & Lake! Can They Make A Dent Over Beloved Missing Soaps?

When The Oprah Winfrey Show went off the air in 2011 — which coincided with the beloved All My Children and One Life to Live being canceled in one fell swoop by then ABC Daytime executive Brian Frons – suddenly the daytime programming market became a wide open space, and networks were more than eager to take chances on new talk shows than anything else, and after all the disappointment, after disappointment for soap fans, that day is here when on Monday three new talks shows take up room on the daytime programming block! The Ricki Lake Show,Katie, and The Jeff Probst Show — all premiere tomorrow Monday, September 10.

Yahoo TV! Takes a look at each of the new series and what they propose to offer for daytime fans, but also give time for a rebuttal and a different take on the situation from noted Soap Opera Digest columnist and author, Carolyn Hinsey. Here are some excerpts!

“For much of the summer Katie Couric has been in publicity overdrive for her show Katie, which will be news-driven, but will also cover lifestyles topics.” The marketing department of ABC came up with ‘smart with heart,’ which I actually thought was a great kind of description of what I would ideally like the show to be,” the 55-year-old told TV critics this summer. While you shouldn’t expect to see her sitting down with Sarah Palin again, she will dip into the political world, interviewing the wives and children of presidential and vice-presidential candidates. There will be plenty of celebrity types too.”

As for The Ricki Lake Show, Lake says she has acquired a wisdom she didn’t have when she was younger at her first attempt as host of her own talk series. So don’t expect any Jerry Springer-style catfights this time around. “With aging you learn. This time around, I know myself in a way that I couldn’t possibly have in my 20s. So the show is really a reflection of the everywoman trying to figure it all out.”

As for Jeff Probst’s new talker, “The overall idea is saying yes to the adventures in your life,” he says. “And I don’t mean climbing a mountain. I mean being married, being a parent, dating, friendships. It’s the courage to kiss somebody before you are ready, or move across the country for a new job, home, school. At the end of a life, this really is what defines our life — those adventures.” Each episode will feature an “Ambush Adventure,” during which Jeff challenges an audience member to step outside their comfort zone to confront an issue in their life. There will also be a “Guys On The Couch” segment, where two male audience members come onstage and answer relationship questions from women in the audience

However, Soap Opera Digest columnist and author, Carolyn Hinsey warns Yahoo! TV to take note that the new influx of talk shows will have a big mountain climb! “The networks are being very shortsighted in canceling 40-plus year old soap operas for what have already proven to be lame talk shows like ABC’s The Revolution. There is no brand loyalty to a talk show, no reason to tune in, or DVR every day.” As far as talk shows being less expensive, “Published reports say that Katie Couric’s new show will cost $80 million, which is double the annual cost of any soap opera,” she says. And the talk shows replacing soaps haven’t exactly impressed in the ratings department. “Couric’s talk show will take the place in the ABC lineup of the failed Revolution! “Well, One Life To Live went off the air in January averaging over 3 million viewers, so Couric will need to score 6 million for her show to match that — both financially and in the ratings. Good luck.”

OK soapers sound off! Do any of these new talk shows appeal to you? Which one do you think stands the best chance at succeeding, if any? Do you think there is hope that after all this is said and done, and if these shows fail, that soaps could stand a chance at a comeback?

Won’t be watching any of these talk shows….and the cynic in me says that their success or failure won’t bring soaps back. The network will just keep replacing the failed shows with more “reality/lifestyle/talk” shows, because they claim that they are cheaper to produce!

NOT A CHANCE WILL I EVER WATCH ANYTHING BUT MY SOAPS. ALL TALK SHOWS ARE GARBAGE AND NOT WORTH THE PAPER THEY ARE PRINTED ON. NO GH NO WATCHING ANY SHOW THAT ABC OWNS AND/OR OPERATES WILL THIS DIEHARD SOAP FAN WATCH AND YOU HAVE MY WORD ON THAT. AND NOT EVEN MY CHILDREN WILL WATCH ABC IF DAYTIME SOAP GH GOES OFF AIR AND IS REPLACED BY A CRAPPY TALK SHOW!!!!

im not watching any of them and I predict that all 3 will have dismally low ratings. Soap fans are devoted and have very long memories and wont be tuning in to see anything that replaces a cancelled soap. The network will get the message eventually, we can outwait them!

I don’t believe any of these talk shows will be successful, especially the ones that will be on ABC. The daytime viewing audience is burnt out on talk/reality programs, and are longing for a return to scripted dramas. The soap fans, especially, are still angry and smarting from the loss of AMC and OLTL. If the networks don’t listen to what the audience wants, and they haven’t so far, they should not expect good ratings for these talkers that they are trying to shove down our throats!

GH is the only show now on ABC during the day. Seems strange though Katie is having a thing called YOLO (You Only Live Once) a stab in the back to soapfans to the show she took off the air OLTL. Ratings will fail but ABC will never admit their mistakes. DON’T forget to change your DVR times, I plan on stopping mine at 2:59 pm so it doesn’t spill into her rating.

That’s the way to do it! She’s not getting any ratings credit! She’s only using GH the same way Doprah used the soaps for ratings! You notice they only cancelled the soaps after she was already gone because they didn’t need them anymore as a lead-in for her show.

I like Jeff Probst on Survivor but don’t feel any draw to watch him on a talk show. As far as Katy I just don’t care for her on any show. Ricki Lake I think is pretty relatable so she might get some viewers. In my area the line up on ABC is going to be General Hosptial, Dr. Oz and then Katy. I defitinely won’t be dvr’ing Katy I like I do GH. If I was sure they would keep GH on, I would watch her just out of loyalty to ABC but since I think their plan is to get rid of GH next year sometime, I am hesitant to show any kind of support for any show other than GH. The other talk shows I have no interest in whatsoever. I still want OLTL back and probably always will although I am really enjoying GH and will ALWAYS SUPPORT THE SOAPS. I love a good story!

I have said it before and will say it again, “I WILL NOT WATCH ABC DAYTIME OTHER THAN GH” doesn’t matter what they put on unless a soap. I wish the talkers good luck as they will need. Brian Frons should be held accountable for his crimes on the daytime genre.

I hope all three bomb. Sorry to the production staff that will suffer as a result of yet another boring talk show going off the air…hopefully they can find work again when ABC finally swallows their pride and returns shows viewers WANT to see!

I will not watch any of those new talk shows. I didn’t watch OLTL or AMC but am not a fan of talk shows. The only soap I watch is DOOL and have been a fan for 46 years. I can only hope that my favorite daytime show, DOOL, will not follow in the path of the ABC and CBS soaps.

DOOL is an acronym for Days of Our Lives. I’m sorry about your favorites being cancelled. Mine is probably the next one to go. It’s ratings are pretty low except when they have storylines featuring James Scott and Alison Sweeney. I have enjoyed this program for 46 years.

susan M. replied September 11th, 2012 at 10:39 am

I hope for you that dool stays on the air & the ratings pick up…Since you have been watching it for 46years….

KATIE will burn fast. She is too Perky to be serious. She is not Ellen, Oprah and show sounds like Anderson which has not been a ratings hit. There is a reason she was last place on CBS News.

Also It isn’t even an sole ABC show, it is syndicated like LIVE (shot at W-ABC) and Rosie (SHOT at NBC). In Seattle it is on NBC. So tomorrow, GH moves to 1p and the Doctors Move to 2p, followed by Dr. Oz. (I think this was a ploy to give an hour back to the affiliates).

I love Jeff Probst as the host of SURVIVOR, but honestly, how can he help one with this: “The overall idea is saying yes to the adventures in your life,” he says. “And I don’t mean climbing a mountain. I mean being married, being a parent …” when he has been neither?

Talk, talk, talk. What more is there to talk about? We (me and the mouse in my pocket) need more DRAMA, not talk.

I’m not a talk show fan either, but here is a quote from Frank Valentini on the subject:

“What’s your take on the soap fan backlash against the talk shows?”

“I’m all about moving forward. Katie [Couric] is so talented and wonderful. She has supported our show and will continue to support our show. And we support her. It’s a nice fit, now. There’s more variety. Certainly, I would like to see “One Life” and “All My Children” come back, but the reality is we’re in a different economic environment now in the television business.”

We live in a world of insanity. Most all these shows are just commercials for celebrities pitching shows, movies or books. The hosts go on each other’s shows to promote themselves. It’s total commercialism and garbage. The shows’ content is commercials, then they cut to ads, and we pay exorbitant cable bills to watch nothing but commercials.

Anne the networks dont want anybody to know that.Can somebody tell me why they cancelled AMC and OLTL and put on a idiotic show like the Spew and Katie Couric show?You can produce both AMC and OLTL for the cost they are producing the Katie Couric show.

Not watching ANY of them. Period (Networks, advertisers are you listening??). I’d rather watch dust fall on my furniture. Same crap, every day. Talking heads, cackling and bickering hens. Blah, blah, blah. Bring back OLTL.

ARE YOU KIDDING? I will not watch a minute of any of these shows especially Katie’s. Nothing against her personally but I WANT MY SOAPS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG. GH has been on at 2 p.m. central for nearly 50 years! That is where it belongs & I miss OLTL & AMC more than ever. Damn it.

No Katie. No Chew. I will only watch General Hospital. I sooooo miss One Life to Live. Please note I am very happy some of the OLTL characters are on GH. It makes not seeing OLTL easier. Frank are Ron are doing a great job with GH. I would love to see more favorite GH characters return and additional OLTL characters added.

I watched a bit of each new show today and found them all the same. After twenty-five years of Oprah, I don’t think anyone can copy that, it has all been said and done, and a lot better. Do networks have old episodes of soaps in vaults somewhere? If so, I rather watch re runs of old soaps than these talk shows. I would love to see Another World again from the beginning, or soaps that were cancelled. That shouldn’t cost any money at all. If you are in the business reading this, I think there would be market for soaps in syndication, just like old night time shows. Someone should look into that.

I agree, Mary. Unfortunately it seems like no one wants to distribute them. I would LOVE to see Santa Barbara again especially with Robin Mattson as I am loving her on General Hospital right now.

I think it has to do with the rights. I worked copyright for one of these major companies and they like to keep their rights and not give them out. There is probably an issue with the music and their not having all the rights to run them or something. That is the problem with the old sitcom WKRP.

I remember when one of the cable channels first came out they had reruns of Falcon Crest. Loved it It would be so much fun to watch a serial that ran for years and years from the beginning. If we had all our old shows back we would never run out of “love in the afternoon.”

Well, that is just sad that all those shows will sit on the shelf somewhere instead of entertaining an old and new generation. Perhaps we can only hope for the day when some network will realize there was a reason this format, daytime drama, lasted as long as it did and reinvest in its return. If Dallas came make a come back, perhaps others can too. Daytime talk, is not entertaining, listening to someone’s battle with the disease of the week is not entertaining. Informative, maybe, tugs on your heart, yes, but not entertaining. Love in the afternoon, was entertaining

Talk shows, what a novel idea. Why didn’t someone think of this decades ago! Call me old fashioned but I want Love In The Afternoon. The soap fans sent the Revolution and GAA packing and look forward to doing the same to the Oprah wannabe!

Boy, with comments like this: ” “During pregnancy, I didn’t really think about it,” she told the talk show host [Katie Couric] of her expanding figure. “I thought my doctors were telling me that it was just a lot of water and whenever my water broke my whole entire stomach would go down but that did not happen. All the weight did not come out with the baby!”

and, what I heard was pretty much an infomercial for Weight Watchers for the first half hour. What an airhead. I am so glad that OLTL and AMC got canceled and that GH got thrown out of its timeslot so I can READ about some blonde wind tunnel ramble on about everything she did not know about getting pregnant and having a baby. Sheesh. I sure hope she doesn’t have another one. She might demand a medal for all she has had to endure. She acts like she is the only one to ever give birth. The fact that she doesn’t know that all the weight you put on by shoving your face full of food during those 9 months does not just come out with the baby. I am just saddened for the world we live in these days when THIS is what they think we want to see/hear.

Just got thru catching Imus in the morning they discussed Sheryl Crow on Katie yesterday and she tried to say she got cancer from her cell phone. They really let people on that are that stupid, soap fans I do not want to read that you are watching this loon at least we know soaps are fairy tales.

I have no interest in talk shows, especially anything on ABC. If they were to return OLTL, I’d continue my 35+ years of faithful viewing and also resume watching their other programs, such as the ABC News, 20/20, etc. I’m not holding my breath though…

The only thing I still watch on ABC is GH. That’s not going to change. What’s interesting to note is that they seem to be advertising several new “soaps” for their prime time, night slots, one ad calling it a “guilty pleasure.” I think I’ve heard that before when we were all battling ABC to leave us ladies (and some men) our soaps. For a genre “that had run it’s course” they sure are investing a lot of money into these new shows. Obviously they know there was still an audience for soaps, and want to use them to build up their evening program when “everyone will be home form work.” Meanwhile, the afternoons are a black hole.

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